Impromptu

My long time friend C and I were chatting on the phone for hours yesterday.

As I didn't expect my son's soccer training to end early, I wasn't expecting his phone call. When he called and wanted to inform me that his training ended, of course he couldn't because I left my phone in the car as well.

Boy, he was definitely upset as he took a bus home when he failed to contact me despite repeated calls.

Kid always surprises you with their questions don't they? After I hang up the line, son asked me this question. "Mommy, who is more important, Auntie C or me?". For a moment, I was stunned!

Anyway, back to my conversation with C. I told her that I will visit her today as I am going to the supermarket near to her house. After all, since she moved to her new place, I have only visited her three times.

In the past, I was basically camping at her house on a daily basis. C, called soon after and I was getting an obvious disapproval from my dear son (he must be thinking that didn't I talk long enough).

Since C had great success with macaroon making, she suggested that we bake macaroons at her place. Of course, I am delighted because I haven't seen how it is done even though I have tried.

I wanted to be sure what they meant by magna flow. Thus we spent the whole morning producing these babies. Initially it was fun but subsequently we can't wait for all the batters to be used up. Making macaroons definitely test patience.

I didn't do a very good job with the piping as well as filling in the ganache. Towards the end of our little experiment, I was getting restless and instead of round macaroons, we were getting all sorts of shapes.

I simply can't imagine those bakers who bake this for sales. I admire their perseverance. Let's hope I won't get a sore throat as I was nibbling these wonderful Vanilla Bean Macaroons while putting on the chocolate ganache.

We both love the bite size as it is really cute.



I will try to attempt this again when I save enough egg whites.

What you need:

100g egg whites
50g granulated sugar
200g icing sugar
110g extra fine almond powder
2 to 3 Vanilla Bean Pods

Method

Whip egg whites to a soft foam. Gradually add sugar and whip egg white until it is glossy and forms a stiff peak.

Rub vanilla bean seeds into sugar.

Sift icing sugar and almond powder together.

Fold in icing sugar and almond powder mix to stiff meringue (ie beaten egg white and sugar).

To test whether the mixture is ready, pipe a small amount onto baking sheet and see whether the tops flatten on its own. Overwhipped and overfold meringue will cause a peak.

Line cookie tray with silipat or equivalent and parchment paper.

Pipe mixture onto this.

Give the tray a big bang.

Let it rest for approx. 15 to 20 minutes before sticking into oven.

Whilst waiting, heat oven up to 240 ºC .

When ready to bake, bring temperature of oven to 180 ºC and stick in tray.

Another alternative to oven temperature is to start heating at 180 ºC and then lower down to 160 ºC if you do not want your macaroons to be too brown.

The secret

For the past 4 days, we have been loading ourselves with so much calories that we decided to eat something light for lunch today. Thus I opted for Chicken Ipoh Hor Fun (鸡丝河粉).

Unfortunately we ran out of green leafy vegetable as the last packet of kalian had turned yellow in the fridge. I hate throwing out food. I wish I had eaten it earlier instead. I must remind myself and the helper to cook leafy vegetable first so this time round, we have to make do with celery instead for this meal.

I am a die hard fan of Chicken Ipoh Hor Fun. I was told that why Ipoh Hor Fun tasted so good was not because of special method of preparing but rather the water that they used.

Before LL passed on, she actually brought me to this little stall in a tiny coffee shop in JB. According to her, the old man actually make daily trip to Ipoh just to get his noodle supply. It was heavenly.

Since then, I have been twice to Ipoh and it is something that I will eat at all cost. I love the silky texture of this noodle. To date, I have yet to taste a wonderful bowl of Ipoh Hor Fun. Those that I think passed the test are either retired or moved location. Despite disappointment after disappointment, I still continue to search for them and will not fail to try whenever I see a new stall selling this.

I have tried my hand at this. Though not authentic like those that I tried before, at least it was good enough to satisfy my family and myself.

Let's welcome the year of the Tiger

During the first 6 years of our marriage, we were always away during the Lunar New Year. It was a good opportunity to take our annual leaves as that few days of public holidays make a significant to the number of days we can take off from work. Thus it is generally a 3 weeks holiday for us. Since we have kids, our perspective changed. We welcome Lunar New Year with a different meaning. We wanted my kids to re-establish their roots. Knowing who their grand aunties and grand uncles are, who are their uncles and aunties as well as cousins. Due to our hectic work, school schedules and living away from my parents, we hardly had a chance to see my relatives except for big events like weddings and birthdays. Thus it is a time that we reconnect with relatives and friends whom we see only once a year. So it is not the new clothes, new shoes, plenty of goodies that entice us but bringing our best wishes to our older generations that we looked forward to. I pray that the year of the Tiger will add more zest, good health and energy to our older generation. And to you my friends, wishing you plenty of good health and luck as well. May all your dreams come true.

couldn't resist

I decided to make a quick run to Orchard Road since my kids are all held up with their extra lessons in school. Personally, I dislike going to Orchard Road as it is always full of human traffic but with a mission in mind as I needed to get a coffee plunger for my hubby and partly to make a trip to Taka to buy a box of Bamboo Charcoal Pineapple tart to try as SC told me about a bakery that is selling this when I baked mine. My last Christmas shopping was done out outside the shopping belt as I couldn't bring myself to brave the crowd. Yesterday, I was like a girl fresh out to the city. I noticed old vendors are now replaced with new vendors. Some stores also changed their layout. I also noticed many new buildings. I guess it must be that long that I haven't stepped into Orchard Road. After I got what I wanted, I proceed to Taka for the Lunar New Year goodies fair. I was relatively surprised to see no crowd at all. Despite walking round the event hall twice, I couldn't locate the stall that was supposedly to be selling that "black" pineapple tarts. However, I did sample the Sago Cheese Cookies that SD attempted. I think there were three stalls selling this. Out of the three, I only fancy one but it was expensive. For a small tiny box, I think they were retailing it at S$15 or S$18. I decided to give it a miss. After a good review by Corner's Cafe based on what he researched. I decided to try my hand since I have a packet of sago flour at home and also the cheddar cheese. I tried another recipe from the clue that SD gave. I guess, I still could afford some baking time tonight as Hubby is out for a company's dinner. Kids were good because they got themselves settled in rather quickly today and completed their CA1 revision when they came home. (Mommy is happy now). My attempt wasn't successful at all, at least in terms of presentation. My piped cookies disappeared under the heat of the hot oven. Perhaps instead of using margarine, I used butter. Despite the flat looking appearence, the cookie didn't taste bad. It has this light, cheesy taste to it but lacks that gritty texture which I tasted. At least mine didn't have that milky artificial taste of cheese as some of them has when I sampled. I will definitely give this another go but with margarine to see whether it can maintain that pretty swirl looking cookies. Also will attempt on SD's recipe just to make a comparison. Next on the list, is a Crumbly cashew cookies 腰果曲奇. I don't think I ever bake cookies with cashew nuts. We usually purchase ours from Vietnam as it is much sweeter and nicer. I never had a chance to use them in bakes because hubby always finishes it up as his TV snack. aarghhh... so this time round, I reserved some in my hiding place. The dough was really dry. I had to squash it up to firm the ball. I hesitated to add a tablespoon of milk but eventually I refrained as I was worried that it will ruin the texture of the cookies. I think hubby and my dad will like this as they are very much the "nuts" people. hahaha. What you need: 140g unsalted butter, softened 145g icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 egg yolk 155g unsalted cashews, finely chopped 250g plain flour Preheat oven to 170 degree C Cream butter, sugar and vanilla till light and fluffy. Add in egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the cashews and sift in the flour. Stir to form a dough Shape tbsp dough into balls. Place on tray and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 8 - 10 mins.

Light meals?

When I was without a helper, sandwiches work wonder for just my kids and I. This can easily become one of our meals for the day.

Since I have a helper, I started to have worries that if I do that, will she think that I am "abusing" her without providing a decent meal especially in Asian context.

With my prince spending so much time in school and hardly home for lunch. This makes only three people at home for the afternoon meal.

As princess is not really a big eater, I find it out to concoct a meal at times. Since little one like macaroni, I decided to reattempt Macaroni and Cheese which I had failed years ago.

I "married" two recipes together to achieve this result which my princess said was yummy. I couldn't disagree with that.



What you need:

224g macaroni
224g cheddar cheese
100g cream cheese, room temperature
1 small can of sour cream
30g parmesan cheese
2.5 cup milk
1.5 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
50g bread crumbs
40g butter, melted
1 small yellow onion, diced finely

Method:

Cook macaroni till al dente. Drain.

In a bowl, combine the cheeses, cream, milk, salt and pepper. Mix well.

In a separate pot, heat olive oil and brown onions.

Add in macaroni and mixed well.

Put macaroni into a baking pan and mix in the cream mixture till evenly distributed.

Add bread crumbs to the melted butter. Mixed well.

Pour crumbs onto the macaroni, distribute evenly.

Bake for 20 - 25 min at 180 degree C.

************

While killing time during the kids' taekwondo lesson last Friday, we chanced upon a new supermarket in the nearby neighbourhood.

Not that I have things to buy but we really have no other plans than to wait for our kids to finish class.

Each time when our kids attend classes outside of school hours, we will always end up not knowing how to kill those hours.

Hubby was just saying to me that being parents, our lives evolved around the kids. Can this be changed? Perhaps later on in years whereby they are independent enough to take transportation on their own?

I seriously do not know, when the time comes, perhaps I am the one not willing to let go.

Anyway, back to that little supermarket. I was amazed by how such a small place can stocked so many items. I found something interesting too.

Ready made Mee Hoon Kueh! I remembered the last attempt was done by my sister when they came over for meal years ago.

Mee Hoon Kueh is like Asian pasta. It is actually flour dough, cooked in ikan bilis broth, accompanying with an egg, minced pork and vegetable.

When we dined out, I generally go for this as a quick meal. My prince will pinch off all the fried ikan bilis from me.

I love this because it is generally very flavourful. I decided to recreate this dish for our dinner. I didn’t use minced pork as I was too lazy to do it. Instead, I substitute it with sliced pork instead. I also added soya bean to further enhance the flavour of the broth.

This week, I am planning light dinner in preparation for the Lunar New Year which generally is laden with tons of calorie intakes. Enjoy.

Thank you

I love my Cousin E. She is always so chirpy, happy and best of all, she has an easy going personality. Cousin E's pineapple tart was a hot favourite in our family. It is something we cannot do without for 10 years, till she make a decision to stop baking this 3 years ago. I requested for her to teach me her pineapple tart and she obliged. Since my family always crave for hers as we couldn't find anyone's that matches hers. I wasn't as hardworking as E, she would personally grate pineapples and spent hours slowly cooking the jam to perfection. I took the easy way out of getting ready made jam. Invited her to stay over for lunch, here is what I prepared. We have eaten this dish before but just can't recall the taste as well as where. Thus here I am trying to replicate Marmite Chicken again. Luckily my family thinks that it is quite tasty. Source: Kuali.com What you need: Marinate: 1 whole chicken 1 tsp pepper 2 tbsp oyster sauce 2 tsp light soya sauce 1 egg 6 tbsp corn flour Sauce: 4 tbsp marmite 2 tbsp maltose 2 tsp honey 2 tbsp light soya sauce 100ml water Method: Marinate chicken with seasoning and let it stand for 1 hour. Heat wok with oil and deep fry the chicken till it is cooked and golden in colour. Set aside. Pour sauce mixture into a pan and boil till sauce starts to thicken. Add in chicken and coat well. Serve with rice. ******************* Next is Grilled Salmon with Teriyaki Sauce. I love Teriyaki Sauce and so do my kids.

Almost there

I think because I am always out under the hot sun and lately had not enough fluid to hydrate my body, I was suffering for a week of bad ulcers. As I am not someone who has ulcer often, I was extremely moody. I don't feel good swallowing and eating and that bothers me.

Finally I was able to locate my sore as it is not visible initially. I guess it has gotten big enough for me to spot it.

It was a challenge when hubby tried to apply medication for me as we don't have the proper tools to reach the sores.

Anyway, I am a little happier today as the pain has lessened. So I restart my engine and continue with my cookie baking. After my last batch of cookies, I wanted to try Fried Green Pea Cookie which is so raved about that I just want to try it. I love peas. I love it in practically everything.

For the fried version, I love it coated with wasabi. Yum.

In fact, last week, I actually waited for an hour for a baking supply shop to open as I don't really fancy going down there in the afternoon as it is hard to find a parking lot. Also I didn't want to go home and then out again just to pick up a bag of flour.

It was a mistake as I should have called them the day before. They are out of stock for this item. Then I went to a nearby supermarket to look for it and it too was out of stock.

I had a hunch that everyone is baking this for this New Year. LOLz. Yes, I finally found green pea today!

I have done two batches, one with green pea and another with Green pea coated.

These are what I churned out. Hubby prefers this one as it is saltier.

This is coated green peas which I find the dough drier.

Adapted from Y3K New Year Cookies Book – Alan Ooi

What you need:

130gm deep-fried green peas (milled) without coating
100gm icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
150g plain flour
100g groundnut oil

Method

Preheat oven to 170 ˚C.

Sift icing sugar and plain flour into a bowl.

Add all other ingredients and mixed well except the groundnut oil.

Add in groundnut oil and mix to form a dough.

Roll dough in between plastic sheet and cut out cookies.

Bake for 15-20 mins till well-baked.

Cool on rack and store.

********************

Next on the list is Nestum Cookies.

I saw Corner Cafe making this for the Lunar New Year and I decided to change my cookie list.

After all, Nestum is my favourite and it was one of my childhood food. My mom used to mix this with a cup of hot milk. I love mine thick and gluey.

Unfortunately my kids don't share the same taste as me. They find it disgusting.

The smell of Nestum cookie baking in the oven is heavenly. Thanks SD for sharing this.



I have a bag of mochi flour given to me by NH before she left for China. Didn't want to waste a bag of expensive flour. Imagine S$7 for only 200g. Thus I went on to research for a recipe.

I didn't have a good result with Mochi Bread (from past experience) so I chanced upon Mochi Cake instead.

I have never eaten a mochi cake before and I was very curious to try when I saw Lemonpi's.

Mine definitely not nice looking like hers. I can't really describe the texture, it is more like our Malay kueh yet it doesn't have that coconut taste. Hubby said it tasted like butter cake.

Perhaps I was added 20g more of evaporated milk by accident.



If you are curious enough, try it.

What you need:

225g mochiko flour (Thai glutinous rice flour also can)
85g unsalted butter, melted
165g castor sugar
187g evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Handful of chocolate chips (you can add fruits or red beans)

Method

Preheat oven to 175 ˚C. Grease and lined 12 X 8 X 1.5” baking tin. (I used two small loaf tin)

Sift mochiko flour and baking powder.

Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.

Fold in the melted butter and then the evaporated milk and vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the baking tin.

Bake for 20 – 25 mins.

Cool the cake on rack and then remove from tin.

No more steam

After baking cookies for my mom, I lost the mojo to continue baking cookies for my own household. I had this bad ulcer in my mouth that just won't go away. Despite me taking cooling herbal tea, the sore still hurts and it seems to be getting bad. Having ulcer is very uncommon for me. Even if I have one, it will heal almost the very next day. This time, this ulcer is really stubborn! and it is bothering me alot. I have a bag of green apples that I actually bought for my little prince. Somehow green apples are no longer his favourite and I better used it up before it goes into the bin. I hate throwing away food. I decided to bake Apple Crumble instead. Just love the smell of cinnamon with apples. Awesome. While baking, the nice aroma that filled the kitchen was enough to lift up my spirit. This recipe is really unique, I expected it to be a tart base but it turned out to be more cakelike. I love the texture, the crumble was crispy and fragrant, filling is soft and juicy and it sits on a soft layer of “cake”. Definitely a good way to end our today's dinner.

A tai tai?

CW called few weeks ago, we haven't spoken for ages or rather since the school term ended. Well I being away and then she was away too for three solid weeks in Europe. We chatted about everything a housewife will normally chat. We update each other with our kids, our home and our holidays. Now, is this what our life is all about? Last week, I met up with PN for breakfast. Since I left the company, we have never met up with each other for a meal or coffee. She was holding a high flying job and I was just too busy with the family. She has just quit from a high profile job as she was experiencing burnt out and started staying home in December. Just a short span of time, she already started to feel bored. Now she is trying to look for opportunity to start a small business. For those who envy us, let me tell you that being a homemaker is not easy. Besides ensuring the needs of the children are catered for (which is constant). The house is in order. Food is provided for. Clothes are washed and pressed. We also stand in as nurse when kids are ill. We act as a carpenter/technician when things are broken. We become drivers. We become everything rolled into one. In fact, we stand in for so many roles that I bet it is going to be a long list. It is the toughest when we fell ill because we cannot rest. In between catching a few winks, you still need to attend to the kids and to the household. For a lucky me, having helper is maybe like an extra pair of hands but it is not that easy as it seems. We have to monitor, we have to guide, we have to teach and basically we have to be there! Gradually we lost the social skill as we only deals with vastly with kids. It takes a huge effort to find back our own identity. For those who think staying home is fun. Yes we do have fun because we witness everything FIRSTs in our kids’ life. The sacrifice of giving up our self independence, in terms of well being and in terms of monetary, is great. Perhaps God makes women that strong that we are able to multi task so well that it seems that it is only natural that we will take charge of the household and the men will only brings back the dough. Thus, I wonder why we are called tai tai when we are not. Staying home does not equate to being a tai tai. Am I right? Okay, enough of my ranting for the day. The kids have been having either cakes, cereals or sandwiches for breakfast. I decided to change the menu alittle. Sometime back, I had some really nice Swedish Pancake in a furniture mall. It is almost crepes like in my opinion. I love it. Decided to do a little research and came up with this. I don't have lingonberry jam but we make do with maple syrup and strawberry jam from the bottle. What you need: (for 6) 6 eggs 3 cups milk 100g flour 3 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 3 tbsp melted butter Method Whisk eggs and then add in the milk, sugar, salt and butter. Continue to whisk till blended. Add in flour and slowly incorporate it into the batter. Sieve and let it stand for 5 mins. Heat a round non stick frying pan. Add a ladle of batter (just enough to coat the pan) and cook it till it brown. Turn it over and continue to cook the other side till brown. Serve with either maple syrup or ligonberry jam and cream.

A can of cola?

I am not a soft drink lover.

In fact, we hardly drink them at home and I strongly discourage my kids but somehow I guess, there are certain things that are out of my control especially when it is so readily available in the school canteen.

I wish school principals ban such drinks and offer juices instead. Won't it be great? Don't get me wrong, I am not that PERFECT. I can't deny that there are days whereby I would love to have a fizzy drink just to quench thirst especially on a busy and humid day. Thus I would store some soda water or carbonated water and mixed it with Ribena or juices. That will quench my thirst and not overly worried about the high sugar content. Of course, there will be a day or two that I will reward our self with a can of Coca Cola.

Anyway, one of my long awaited cakes to bake was a Coca Cola cake. I am intrigued when a recipe called for unusual ingredient.

Whoever invented such recipes are to me geniuses.

Gotten hold of Coke Zero which makes me feel less guilty? Was it physiological, I somehow feel that Coke Zero is not as sweet as the regular Coke. I didn't have much luck with this cake.

First I over melt the butter! Ouch, a block of butter went down the bin especially now that butter prices have gone up.

Done a second batch, but I overlooked the cola to be incorporated with the butter. Darn mistake no 2.

As I really can't bear to throw a second batch of butter, I decided to just continue with the process and pray for the best.

The batter was runny and definitely don't look promising. Since I am already at this stage, I have nothing to lose.

I was delighted when it started to rise. At least it looks like a cake. Phew.... waited and waited and waited..... not cooking too well in the centre..... prolonged baking time ... finally the cake was ready to be out of the oven.

Oops .... it shrank and it looks like a honeycomb cake with the tunnelling effect. What the heck, we will just eat it plain with the frosting.

Actually despite its looks, the cake wasn't bad at all. In fact, it is really moist and soft. No hint of the cola at all and I love it that it is not overly sweet.

I will definitely give this Chocolate Coca Cola Cake another go.



Adapted from Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking.

What you need:

250g self raising flour
3 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
280g golden castor sugar
200g unsalted butter
1 cup of Coca cola
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degree. Grease and line a 9" cake pan.

Sift flour, cocoa and baking soda into a bowl.

Stir in castor sugar.

Melt butter and coca cola in a pan over low heat.

Add butter mixture into flour mixture and follow by milk, eggs and vanilla. Stirring all the time.

Once thoroughly blended. Gently pour into the cake pan and bake for 40 mins till cake is cooked.

Leave in tin for 10 mins before removing the tin. (oops, I must remember this point to cool the cake well in the tin before removing)

Cool on rack.